Vet: Dog on way to recovery

Residents offer help after hearing heroic rattlesnake story

July 16, 2010

The old saying goes that a dog is a man's best friend, but in the case of a German shepherd named Smokey, it seems the reverse is true.

Curled up on a couch in his Altoona home Thursday afternoon after a vet appointment, Smokey, a 7-month-old pup who suffered a rattlesnake bite to his snout Tuesday, looked a lot less swollen.

Smokey was on his way to recovery - thanks to the advice of a State College veterinarian, the love of his family and the good vibes sent his way from area residents touched by his story.

Article Photos

More than 12 people called or e-mailed the Mirror after the pup's run-in with a reptile made headlines. His owners said Smokey likely saved one of their lives.

"I'll help. I'll do anything I can," Hollidaysburg-area resident Patty Sheetz said. "I'm just such an animal lover, I would do anything I can to help people out."

"I would of paid for it," an employee at Resilience Tattoo in Ivyside Plaza, who goes by the name of Chachy, said of Smokey's care. "Once I seen the picture, I was like, 'Oh my!' Ya know what I mean?"

He said everyone at the tattoo parlor wanted to make a donation.

"I know if that was my dog, I would do whatever it took," tattoo parlor owner Bob Hecker said.

The pup was bitten while on a family walk at the bottom of the Allegheny Portage Railroad Trace Trail Tuesday, and by Wednesday, his snout was severely swollen.

The family could not afford to get the animal a $700 dose of antivenom, so they treated the bite with Benadryl at the recommendation of Dr. Mark Koshko, a veterinarian at Metzger Animal Hospital of State College. He has treated dogs for such bites in the past and is the closest vet that carries the antivenom.